Fantasy Words
Mercury Rising is a fantasy novel. That means, as the writer, I get to make up as much as I want!
One of the things I've always like to know is how writers come up with the names in their books and the words they use in their fantasy languages. If you're the same kind of reader that I am then you are in the right place. This is a list of all the words I put into my story, and where they came from!
**Side note** Don't be surprised when most of this is pretty simple to explain. This is all just for fun.
Ramanien - Quenya word for With Wings. In MR, Ramanien is a race of fairy. They are the royal line and there are only three of them known to be alive.
Shinwa - Japanese word for myth. I like this for the name of the forest where the Fae palace is because the story starts out discussing Fae lore, aka, myth.
Lumoro - This is a combination of the Latin lumen, which means light, and me adding to it. This word is used in MR as the name of the Fae language.
Gladan - Croatian word for hungry. The word is Lumoro. Rist, the Fae prince, uses this word to refer to the vampires.
Vatra - Croatian word for fires. I can't say too much here because of plans for a companion piece with Vatra as a major player. Her character is based on the element phosphorus. She's a vampire hunter and, with phosphorus literally at her fingertips, she can snap fires into existence.
Alukah - This name comes straight from a Hebrew myth about a vampire. She is also refereed to as a succubus and a demon.
Maeci - When I was designing Maeci i wanted her name to be something pretty that also gave a nod to how dangerous she can be. So, I took the word mace and messed with it until I got a name that I liked.
Tetsu - Japanese word for Iron. In MR it is Lumoro for the same word, Iron.
Liebe Geasa - Liebe is the German word for love. Geasa is the Irish word for a spell that prohibits action. This is the name of the love spell that Lia cast in chapter one.
Voditi Stazu - Croatian for Guide the Path. I hope. This was kind of hard to translate. In MR the words are Lumoro, carved into a ring that Lia wears. It is part of the Fae blessing. May the fairies guide the path ahead and the moon lite the way.
Maca - Portuguese word for apple. In MR this is Lumoro for apple. I wanted a special word for it because apples play an oddly specific role in more than one fairy tale. In my story they are several different colors. Quick note - the actual spelling in Portuguese has a letter that doesn't exist in the English alphabet. Also, Portuguese is one of my favorite languages!
Kototama - Japanese for Magic Word. It is the actual magic word in my story. Think of it as the bippity-boppity for Mercury Rising.
I hope you enjoyed this insight into the story! If you're a writer, I hope that this gives you some inspiration for your own story. Don't forget, there are more languages out there than the Latin based ones. <3